Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-02-26
PRAISED AND PULVERIZED.
Editors WHO Admire and Curse our
City by Turns.

1t is curious fact, if not fact peculiar
to itself, that Kansas editors in writing
about Wichita never fail of stuitifying
themselves. Without stopping to explain
or account for this odd and particular freak
it is nevertheless true. No Kansas editor
visiting and writing up Wichita of late has
failed to in one breath to laud the town and
its people, and its business, to the skies.
and in the next breath to swear that there
was nothing to it,-that it was ali gas and
wind, without any real foundation or sta
bility, usually winding up with the sugges-
ton that their own respective towns far
surpass Wichita in everything. All this
was amusing until it became monotonous.
The Lawrence Journal, the Topeka Jour
nal, the Topeka Commonwealth and the
Atchison Champion, have all been guilty
of this thing within a week. The writers
seem to be inspired one moment by the
spirit and life of our city, and in the next
to be soured by the fact of its superiority
and prosperity.
In another column we publish the Atch-
ison Champions article from the body Of
which we cut the following concentrated
and outrageous misrepresentation; and
which were mixed right up with his plaud-
its
There are not so many roofs in the town
as in Atchison by one-third, and the class of
residences with rare exceptions will not be-
gin to compare with AtchiSon's princely
dwellings Within year or two consider
able iobbing trade in groceries, possibly
million or a million and half OF dollars a
wear. has been established, and one small
Wholesale dry goods store is in operation.
Besides this there is no JobblDg trade at
Wichita. There is no lumber trade, no drug
trade no -four trade no leather trade, no
hide trade, no hardware trade, no book and
stationary trade, no coal trade, no cigar
trade, no manufactured iron trade, no ma
chine trade, no ice u ale, no queensware
Il ade, no stove trade, no big mills, no foun-
dries. DO machine shop no sash and door
factories, none of the larger industries Atch-
ison has
To proceed to tell our people that there
is not word of truth in all that compound
sentence is unnecessary. Wichita has "A
t bird more roofs and twice the population
of Atchison. Wichita does a greater job
bing trade than Atchison and all the other
cities in the state combined, If we except
Kansas City. Wichita has the finest and
most extensive retail establishments Of any
city in the state by the greatest odds.
Wichita handles more lumber in day than
does Atchison in a week. As for our grain
trade leather trade, flour trade, hide trade.
hardware trade and all the other trades
mentioned by the Champion, we have only
to mention the fact that the bank clearings
of Wichita every week run from one to
two millions of dollars while in Atchison |
there is no dem and for such a commercial
barometer
If there was any doubt about Wichita
becoming the great city Of the west; if
anybody who ever spent a half day within
her charmed precincts could think for
moment that Wichita wouldn't first rival
and then outstrip Kansas City; if all this
and much more wasn't as plain as the fin
ger of destiny could write it, there might
be some excuse for invidio,ls comparisons
and doleful prophesies upon the part of our
editorial brethren.